Restoration, July Monarchy, Second Empire, Paris Commune: rare books, testimonies and political texts

Illustrated edition of Victor Hugo's speeches and political writings.

Wide-margined copy on chine, numbered (32), unopened.

Illustrated wrappers with some soiling, dampstaining and minor marginal tears, cracked spine, occasional foxing to the leaves.

First edition.

Half brown-red chagrin binding, brown marbled paper sides, spine with four raised bands, blind-tooled panels between the bands, gilt author and title, green marbled paper doublures. Binding rubbed, with surface losses and abrasions, headcap torn away, spine sunned, leaves browned at the margins, occasional foxing.

Valuable autograph inscription signed by Maxime Du Camp to Charles de La Rounat on the half-title: "à Charles de la Rounat son tout dévoué Maxime Du Camp".

Long, rancorous manuscript note, dated October 1871 and signed C. de la Rounat, on a front free endpaper.

First edition of the French translation established by Georges Guiffrey.

Beige half roan binding, spine with four raised bands framed by black fillets, slight rubbing to the bands, boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

"In 1855, if my memory serves, Georges Guiffrey set about translating Vanity Fair with Thackeray's blessing: the perfection of this version makes it very nearly a masterpiece of nineteenth-century French literature. A critic nevertheless found occasion to take issue with its recent reissue, on the grounds that it had been given no more than a discreet dusting-off. Guiffrey's French strikes him as...

First true edition as an earlier, truncated and inaccurate edition of this book had already appeared the same year in Brussels.
Copy in the original wrappers, as issued. Trace of a crease to the lower right corner of the front wrapper.

One of Hugo's masterpieces, containing some of the most powerful and sarcastic poems of the century. The emperor so reviled is treated here more mercilessly, if that is possible, than in Napoléon le Petit.

First edition, illustrated with a frontispiece in each volume and a folding plate at the end of the first volume.

Bradel-style bindings in brown half cloth with small corners, smooth spines very slightly faded and ruled in gilt, marbled-paper boards with a few minor scuffs, blue-grey endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges, bookplates pasted to the front pastedowns.

Some foxing, as usual.

Our copy is complete with all three engravings: a view of St Peter's in Rome and a plan of the remains of ancient Rome in the first volume, and Trajan's Column in the second.

It also includes a second state of the plan of the remains of ancient Rome, with slight variations...

The first Paris edition, published simultaneously with the Brussels edition.

Most of the volumes bear a statement of fourth, seventh, or eighth edition.

Some foxing to several volumes.

Contemporary half tawny speckled sheep bindings, smooth spines decorated with double gilt fillets, red sheep lettering-pieces lettered "Oeuvres de V. Hugo", sky-blue sheep title and volume labels, volume label lacking from the fifth volume, three others partially lifting, marbled paper-covered boards, decorative endpapers and pastedowns.

New printing of the author's works issued by Alexandre Houssiaux, who had acquired the Furne publishing stock under which the works had originally appeared. He expanded the set with three additional volumes (Theatre, Contes drolatiques, etc.), published here for the first time.
Bound in red half shagreen, spines with four raised bands ruled in gilt and richly gilt-panelled, a few minor scuffs to some spines, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges.

A few light foxing spots, as usual.

Illustrated with 125 plates hors texte by the leading artists of the period, including Bertall, Daumier, Gavarni, Johannot, Meissonier and Nanteuil, together with rare...

First edition, without the mention “oeuvres complètes de Victor Hugo” (see Clouzot).

Contemporary red polished half calf bindings, spines slightly mellowed and decorated with four raised bands framed by gilt garland tools and gilt quintuple rules, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Very slight rubbing to the spines, a pleasing copy, lacking the preliminary preface leaf, attractively bound in a contemporary Romantic-style binding.

Rare edition, partly first, as it contains for the first time a letter by Louis Blanc, following the edition published by Bry aîné in 1847.

Corner creases to the wrappers, small tears to the spine.

Second edition of Barbès's text, partly first edition as it is here augmented by a letter from Louis Blanc, published a few weeks after Barbès and Louis Blanc were sentenced to deportation by the High Court of Bourges for their role in the events of 15 May 1848. The first edition of Barbès's text had been published in Paris by Bry aîné.

Corner creases to the wrappers, small tears to the spine.

Rare first edition.

Some foxing, spine slightly cocked.

First edition on standard paper.

Bradel binding in full moiré silk with a leaf pattern, smooth spine decorated with a gilt fleuron and gilt date at the foot, green morocco lettering piece, fore-edge and tail edges untrimmed, binding signed in blind on the upper pastedown [E.T.] Pierson, the Goncourt brothers' binder of choice.
Silk at the headcaps slightly rubbed, corners worn, light rubbing to the lettering piece.

A fine copy, with a few very faint fox spots and one paragraph marked with a pencilled marginal bracket at p. 61.

First complete edition of the French translation.

Contemporary red half morocco, spine with four raised bands tooled with gilt dotted rules and decorated with double gilt compartments filled with a semé of gilt stars, minor rubbing to spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

Occasional light foxing.

First edition of the French translation, for which no deluxe paper copies were issued, with the correct "achevé d’imprimer" dated February 1939.

A fine copy, complete with its illustrated dust-jacket, as usual showing only slight rubbing and minor marginal tears, not affecting its overall appearance.

The work is illustrated, facing the title-page, with a map of the south-eastern United States during the Civil War.

Very rare first edition of this pamphlet issued by the Sacred Congregation of Propaganda Fide, recounting the martyrdom of several Catholic missionaries in Tonkin in 1837 and 1838.

Only one copy recorded in WorldCat (Biblioteca Casanatense). No copy in the CCF.

Modern binding in half mottled tan calf, smooth spine ruled in gilt, date and place gilt at foot, longitudinal spine label, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, original wrappers preserved.

Some foxing.

First French edition, illustrated with 69 statistical tables on 24 folding plates (cf. Sabin 79632. Goldsmith's 22782. Kress C 619.)

Contemporary full sprinkled calf, smooth spine decorated with gilt ornamental tooling, covers framed with gilt rolls and fillets, marbled edges, gilt edge-lines.

Spine expertly restored, particularly at the upper right corner, occasional foxing.

The first French edition of this comprehensive statistical survey of the United States, covering population, commerce, navigation, fisheries, public lands, and the revenues and expenditures of the federal government.

Adam Seybert (1773-1825), a distinguished physician, chemist, and...

Rare collection of pamphlets printed in Toulon or Marseille, notably during the Restoration period, several of which implicate senior military figures of the First Empire.

The first item is: "Ordonnance du Roi, Portant règlement sur les Franchises du Port de Marseille et Suite de l'Ordonnance..." printed in Toulon, by Alx (sic) Curet, (1815), 16 pages, comprising an extract from the Moniteur of 24 February 1815.

Bound in half ivory vellum with corners, smooth spine, manuscript inscription in black ink to spine, blue pasteboards with some surface abrasions, contemporary binding.

Some foxing. A few nicks to the edges.

Bound in continuation:

1)...

First edition.

No copies recorded in the CCF.

A very rare small guide intended for English travellers in the Kingdom of Naples. It opens with an itinerary from Rome to Naples via the monastery of Monte Cassino.

Some foxing, small losses to the spine which also shows a tear at the foot.

First edition. 

Official series not recorded by Polak. 

Contemporary full cherry-red morocco binding, smooth spine decorated with gilt Romantic arabesques, gilt roll tooling partly worn at the spine ends, covers with a wide panel of sextuple gilt fillets and Romantic arabesques, corner ornaments in gilt, crowned "FO" cipher stamped in gilt at the centre of each cover, doublures and endpapers lined with azure watered silk, gilt garland frame to the doublures, corners slightly rubbed, all edges gilt, an elegant Romantic binding of the period.

A few dark stains to the covers, occasional foxing mainly affecting the endpapers.

Copy from the library of Ferdinand-Philippe...

Reprint of the Exposé statistique du Tunkin, first published in London in 1811 by Ant. Jean Bapt. de Montgon (cf. Cordier, Indosinica, 997).

Contemporary uniform half tawny calf bindings, smooth spines decorated with double gilt fillets, red and black calf lettering and volume labels, a few scuffs to the spines, marbled paper-covered boards, yellow edges.

Occasional light foxing.

A French missionary born at Bourgueil around 1764 and deceased in 1830, La Bissachère entered the Paris Foreign Missions Seminary before being sent to Tonkin in 1790, where he remained for seventeen years.

During his stay, he travelled extensively throughout the provinces...

Belgian edition reproducing the text of the original edition published in Paris by Charpentier in 1854, issued here in only two volumes.

Illustrated with 6 plates hors-texte, including 3 engraved frontispieces and 3 views (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 2118.)

Contemporary half black shagreen binding, spine with four raised bands decorated with blind fillets and gilt garlands, rubbing to the spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, corners worn, small chips to the edges, speckled edges, contemporary binding.

The map present in the original edition was not included by the Belgian publishers, although the engravings are specific to this issue.

Published...

Second edition, issued in the same year as the first, and illustrated with a folding colour map at the beginning of the first volume (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 2120; Caillet, 5293; Numa Broc, Asie, 247-249).

Tears to one joint of the first volume; spine of the second volume split with minor losses; a tear without loss to p. 407 of vol. II.

A valuable copy, bearing the signature "G. Rocquemaurel" on the title-pages.

This is Louis François Gaston Marie Auguste de Rocquemaurel (Toulouse, 1804–1878), a former student of the École polytechnique, second-in-command to Dumont d'Urville as lieutenant aboard the Astrolabe during the voyage...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with 14 hand-coloured engravings depicting costumes (cf. Colas 961.)

Bindings in blue half morocco, spines slightly faded, with five raised bands and minor rubbing, dates gilt at the foot, illustrated wrappers preserved, marbled paper boards, comb-marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled top edges, corners slightly bumped.

Foxing, small paper flaw to the corner of page 37 and misbound leaves in volume 1.

Partly pre-original edition for the first work and first complete edition for the second.

See F. Monaghan 239 and 240. Cited by Lasseray, "Les Français sous les treize étoiles"

Bound in at the end: "Guerre d'Amérique. 1780-1783. Journal de campagne de Claude Blanchard", printed in Paris by Librairie J. Dumaine and L. Baudoin in 1881.

Contemporary half blue percaline, smooth spine decorated with a gilt fleur, double gilt fillet at foot, brown shagreen title-piece with rubbing, marbled paper boards with a few scratches, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

The half-title of the second volume was not bound in.

The pre-original edition bears manuscript...

First edition illustrated with 1 plate printed outside the text (graph), cf. Vicaire 85. Frère I 96.

Bradel binding in full pebble-grained paper boards, smooth spine, black oasis leather title label, original wrappers preserved though spotted, modern binding.

Scattered foxing.

Bergasse, a learned lawyer and no less distinguished magistrate, born in Lyon on 22 September 1792, died in Paris on 6 July 1853. A member of the Académie de Rouen, of which he served as president, he enriched the proceedings of that Society with several interesting memoirs" [Frère].

The present work provides valuable information on the economic condition of the butchery trade of wide...

Anonymous manuscript of 23 pages, complete as this first notebook, accompanied by a title leaf bearing a manuscript table of nine articles and entitled Cap de Bonne Espérance. 1er cahier. The title identifies it as a first notebook, although no continuation accompanies the present group. On one page, the text shows a visible revision, with a word crossed out and corrected; the manuscript therefore appears to be a working draft rather than a final fair copy. A small brown stain affects one page of the arrival narrative without impairing legibility.

First in-12 edition, published one year after the exceedingly rare first edition.
Uniform half green shagreen bindings, spines slightly darkened with four raised bands, decorated with blind fillets, gilt titles at the foot of the spines, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, bookplate pasted to the rear pastedown of the first volume.
Minor rubbing to some boards, two small tears at the foot of the boards of the first volume.
An attractive set, virtually free of foxing and preserved in a uniform binding.

First edition, one of 16 numbered copies on pur fil, the deluxe issue following 6 copies on Montval paper.

Half hazelnut morocco binding, spine with four raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with double gilt panel compartments, date gilt at the foot, sides of cat’s-eye paper, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, bookplate pasted to a pastedown, original wrappers and spine preserved, top edge gilt, untrimmed, contemporary signed binding by Albinhac.

A fine copy attractively bound.

First edition, never translated into english, and first issue of the fine steel engravings by Sainson.

The illustrations are distributed as follows:

• for the first volume: 141 plates hors-texte including a frontispiece, and 3 folding maps (Hawaii, Tahiti, and a general map of the voyages).
• for the second volume: 136 plates hors-texte, including a frontispiece, and 4 folding maps (Tonga Islands, Hawaii, Pacific Ocean, general map).
• Bindings in emerald green half polished sheep. Spines with four raised bands, decorated with rocaille tools. Red morocco title labels. Spines uniformly lightened. Minor rubbing.
• The steel-engraved plates, after...

First edition.

Our copy is preserved in its original plain pink paper waiting wrappers.

Ink annotations to the front cover, a few short tears; internally a clean and agreeable copy.

As it was never ratified, this concordat never came into effect, and France therefore remained under the regime of the Concordat of 1801 until the Law on the Separation of Church and State in 1905.

First edition.

Minor foxing, a pleasing copy.

The Roman jeweller Alessandro Castellani (1823–1883) was also an enlightened collector of ancient and medieval artefacts, from which he sometimes drew inspiration for his jewellery designs.

Jean de Witte (1808–1889), archaeologist and numismatist, became a member of the Institut in 1886.

First edition of one of the many productions of an odontological charlatan (cf. David, p. 245).

Illustrated with a portrait of the author as frontispiece.

Spine clumsily restored with an adhesive repair and showing small losses; corner losses to the boards; foxing.

Born into a Dutch Jewish family, Benjamin Cohen (1818–1852) adopted an Anglicised pseudonym in order to facilitate his business dealings, passing himself off as a London practitioner holding a degree from the University of Edinburgh, where he claimed to have been "admitted" in 1833. In reality, he had undertaken no formal studies.

Nevertheless, he set himself up as a dentist in Paris in 1836. Lacking any...

First edition (see Playfair 583a. Not recorded by Tailliart.)

Half black morocco binding, spine with five raised bands, sides of marbled paper, original front cover preserved, endpapers and pastedowns of comb-marbled paper; modern binding.

Loss skilfully filled at the lower right corner of the original front cover and at the upper right corners of the final two leaves.

Second edition comprising the reissue of the first two volumes of the Bulletin, no less scarce than the copies of the first edition, and corresponding to the opening phase of Bourbon’s legislative and regulatory activity, a veritable mine of information not only on legal matters but on every aspect of the island’s daily life (cf. Ryckebusch, 1224).

Contemporary Bradel bindings in half fawn marbled sheepskin, smooth spines ruled in gilt with double fillets, marbled paper sides, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, yellow edges, three corners lightly rubbed.

The third and final volume lacking, occasional foxing, two black stains to the lower cover of the first volume.

First edition, illustrated with a folding map at the end of the volume (see Fumagalli 730, and Gay, 2674bis (collation of the first two parts only: 292 pp.). 

The third part of this history of the "Ethiopia of the Ancients" is devoted to Christianity, the religion most widely practised in Abyssinia.

Occasional light foxing, chiefly affecting the folding map.

Half blue shagreen binding, spine with five raised bands gilt with dotted tooling and decorated with double gilt panels, slight rubbing to the spine, dark navy percaline boards framed with blind fillets, a small loss of percaline at the foot of the upper board, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled...

Rare first edition.

No copy recorded in the CCF.

Some marginal tears and losses to the boards.

In 1838 the “Chinese Museum” opened in Philadelphia on the ground floor of the museum of Charles Willson Peale, based on the objects brought back from China by the Quaker merchant Nathan Dunn (1782–1844), who had returned from a long commercial stay in Canton (1818–1832).

The whole of this collection was also exhibited in London in 1842 and, after Dunn’s death, again in 1851, the latter showing meeting with far less success.

The fate of the objects that composed it remains obscure, but the collection fell victim to its own success and appears to have been both...

First edition. 

Contemporary binding in green shagreen, spine slightly faded, with four raised bands gilt with fillets and triple compartments, joints split at the head, green vellum corners, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns in laid paper.

This volume from the Panthéon littéraire series offers a striking example of the 19th-century Western view of the East, notably in its attempt to identify counterparts to “sacred books” for religious and philosophical traditions that—apart from Islam—do not fit such a framework at all. 

The orientalist Jean-Pierre-Guillaume Pauthier (1801–1873) worked across several fields, though he is best known for his translations...

Very rare first edition illustrated with one map and one colour plate.

Not recorded by the Bibliothèque nationale de France, Cordier, or Lorentz.

Half midnight-blue shagreen, smooth spine decorated with quadruple gilt fillets, one joint very fragile, upper headcap worn down, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns.

Some foxing.

Rare first edition (the work was reissued at least once, in 1833) of this historical compendium arranged in detailed tabular form, increasingly precise in its treatment of contemporary events (Revolution, Empire, Restoration).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers.

Minor tears with small losses to the spines, a dampstain to the final free endpaper, light foxing, staining to the lower cover.

Rare illustrated first edition with two large folding plates (Lugeol system; regulatory system) (see Polak 6168).

Lettered spine restored and reattached; pleasing internal condition.

The only edition of this scarce work (the 1845 edition noted by the Bibliothèque nationale appears to be a misreading).

Jean-Gustave Lugeol (1799–1866), who entered the navy in 1813, held the rank of captain in 1843; he took part in most naval campaigns of the Restoration and the July Monarchy; promoted to rear admiral in 1852, he remained on active service until 1864.

Second edition, in large part original as it is substantially enlarged (Tulard, 876, for the editions of 1814 and 1818).

Our copy remains sewn in the original plain temporary wrappers.

Backstrips slightly split, a few scattered spots of foxing.

The first volume is illustrated with 4 plates outside the text (including a frontispiece and a folding plan), together with 5 folding tables; the second with 2 engraved plates, one folding table, and, at the end of the volume, a further large folding plan.

This very scarce work expands upon a pamphlet first issued in 1814 (Moscou avant et après l’incendie), devoted chiefly to the burning of Moscow in 1812, of...

Rare first edition of this fervent—indeed visionary—appeal to bring the Orient under the sway of the combined powers of the State and the Christian religion, informed by such an overtly Eurocentric outlook that the work is almost unreadable today, yet remains an eloquent record of the illusions prevailing in the West in the mid-nineteenth century.

Corners restored at the outer tips of the boards, some scattered foxing, and a stain to the right margin of the upper cover.

In an admirably prophetic vein, the author exclaims: "La civilisation chrétienne, qui ne cesse d'agrandir son cercle, ne s'arrêtera pas devant le Coran, et ce n'est pas la loi de Mahomet qui présidera au...

First edition (see Cordier 92).

Contemporary half brown sheep over brown cloth boards, smooth spine decorated with triple gilt rules, gilt ornamental frieze and gilt name at foot, a few rubs to the spine; marbled endpapers and pastedowns; binding of the period.

Scattered foxing.

Manuscript ex-libris on the half-title: Madame Sinoir, repeated in gilt lettering at the foot of the spine.

A later issue consisting of a reissue of the 1857–58 edition, with cancel titles (see Cordier, Sinica, 770; Caillet, 5294; Numa Broc, Asie, 247–249).

At the end of the volume, volume I is illustrated with a folding hand-coloured map inserted as a plate.

Some foxing, notably to the boards.

A native of Caylus, near Montauban, Évariste Huc (1813–1860) pursued his studies in Toulouse before entering the seminary of the Congregation of Saint Lazarus in 1836.

Ordained a priest in 1839, he left for China as a missionary.

After five years’ residence, he was entrusted with an extensive journey of exploration and evangelisation across the country...

Rare illustrated first edition, complete with three folding maps printed at the end of the volume: Cercle de Biskra, Zaatcha et les oasis voisines, Plan des attaques de Zaatcha du 7 octobre au 26 novembre 1849 (cf. Playfair 2479. Tailliart 1903.) 

Bound in modern half black shagreen, spine with five raised bands, gilt date at foot, minor rubbing to foot of spine, comb-marbled paper sides, brown paper endleaves and pastedowns, top edge gilt. 

Occasional foxing, manuscript bookplate in violet pencil on a flyleaf.

First edition.

Minor marginal tears to the boards, a few spots of foxing.

Not recorded by Sabin.

First separately issued edition, illustrated with a large folding map, issued as a plate outside the text (cf. Sabin 94850).

The work was first published in 1838 in the Notices statistiques sur les colonies françaises.

"La lecture des documents officiels réunis dans la Notice statistique laissera déjà dans tous les esprits cette conviction que la Guyane française offre de nombreux éléments de richesse et de prospérité, et que, pour les avoir laissés improductifs pendant deux siècles, la France ne peut avoir renoncé à les mettre un jour en valeur".

Some light foxing, otherwise a pleasing copy.

First edition of the French translation.

Loukia Droulia (849) records this work without having been able to examine it. Not in Blackmer and Atabey, who describe the English edition published the same year (A narrative of Lord Byron's last journey to Greece).

Contemporary full mottled beige calf, flat spine elaborately decorated with gilt garlands and fleurons, red morocco lettering piece, minor rubbing at the foot of the joints, gilt tooling to spine-ends, borders of gilt dotted rules, gilt garlands to the boards also framed in gilt, edges framed in gilt, marbled edges.

A few minor and unobtrusive spots.

Pietro Gamba (1801-1826) was the brother of...

Rare first edition (cf. Sabin, 24009. Ryckebusch, 3167.)

Our copy is presented in wrappers, preserved in a modern marbled paper chemise, with a printed title label mounted on the upper cover.

Red ink stamps on certain leaves.

Staining and dampmarking to the first and last pages.

For the pastor de Félice (1803-1871), there exist "three very distinct classes of abolitionists: apparent abolitionists, the temporisers, and those who are called pure abolitionists", a category in which he places himself.

In correspondence with Schoelcher and Bissette, whose efforts he supports, Guillaume de Felice advocates an "immediate and complete" abolition and criticises...

First edition (cf. Sabin 23192).

Contemporary half brown shagreen, spine with four raised bands decorated with blind-stamped compartments, slight rubbing to the spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

A few small spots of foxing, with several imperial colportage stamps at the foot of certain leaves.

The sole edition of this commemorative text, apparently composed directly in French for the author’s nephew.

The physician Thomas Wiltberger Evans (1823-1897) had practised as a dentist in Maryland until 1847, before moving to Paris at the invitation of a fellow American, Dr Cyrus Starr Brewster (1799-1870), who had been...

First edition, illustrated with a large folding map inserted as a plate (see Gay 1114; Playfair 692; Tailliart 1290: "Livre écrit entre la première (1836) et la deuxième (1837) expédition de Constantine : étude consciencieuse, documentée, sincère").

Modern half caramel calf binding, smooth spine gilt with double fillets, marbled paper sides, original upper wrapper preserved.

Some foxing.

First edition, printed in a small number of copies, of this interesting report extracted from the Annales maritimes et coloniales of 1839 (cf. Polak 2837).

Our copy is preserved in its original wrappers, with a plain blue-grey cover.

Tears to the spine and to the margins of the covers, some foxing, notably on the title page.

First edition (Cf. Blackmer 485. Loukia Droulia 1123. Atabey 350: "Scarce". Quérard II, 557. Brunet IV, 110.)

Contemporary half tan calf, spine with four raised bands bordered with faded gilt decorative rolls and tooled with gilt rolls and blind-stamped ornaments, modern black morocco lettering-piece, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, marbled edges.

Some rubbing to spine and boards, occasional foxing.

The work was printed in a small number of copies and was not commercially issued.The announced second part was never published.

It contains observations on Constantinople, Egypt and the Holy Land, Syria and Asia Minor. A chapter devoted to...

Rare second edition, unfortunately lacking the engraving recorded by Gay (cf. Gay 2932).

Modern half navy-blue calf over blue paper-covered boards, with corners; spine with five raised bands, decorated with blind-stamped fleurons; date gilt at foot; marbled edges.

A few minor spots of foxing.

Contemporary manuscript ownership inscription of the Congrégation de Notre-Dame at the head of the title page.

First edition (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1643).

Small tear and minor loss at the head of the spine; covers slightly soiled.

A highly interesting trilingual lexicon, presenting Chinese ideograms alongside their phonetic transcription, published in the immediate aftermath of the French expedition of 1858.

It includes, for example, practical phrases such as how to ask "Quelle est la nature de la rade ?" or how to reply that a general is "très brave ; il ne recule devant rien".

Claude-Philibert Dabry de Thiersant (1826–1898) began his career as a naval officer before turning to diplomacy, a path that led him to hold several consular posts in the Far East...

First edition published anonymously (cf. Ryckebusch, 6737).

Light, scattered foxing.

Modern half brown cloth, smooth spine without lettering, marbled paper boards, corners rubbed.

The anonymous author urges abolitionists to be especially active and visible at the moment when the chambers are to vote on the new colonial legislation.

Original offprint, printed in a small number of copies, of this extract from the Nouvelles annales des voyages for November 1858.

The original temporary front wrapper has been reattached; a few spots of foxing; the title written in pencil on the front cover.

No copy of this review recorded in the CCF.

Charles-Ernest Beulé’s monograph on the coinage of Athens had just been published earlier that same year, in 1858.

First edition, illustrated with three folding tables in the text.

Our copy is preserved sewn, as issued, in plain contemporary waiting wrappers of pink marbled paper.

The plain spine is browned and detached, with some losses.

First edition (cf. Playfair, 533; Tailliart, 2295).

Spine cracked with small tears, some foxing. 

General considerations on the colonisation of Algiers, its aims and its results. On the Arabs. The various systems of occupation, etc.

At the head of the front wrapper, an autograph presentation inscription from Amédée Hippolyte de Brossard to Marshal Clausel.

First edition printed in Gothic type (cf. Engelmann, I, p. 206. Sabin, 8207. Not in Howes.)

Contemporary plain full paper boards, smooth spine split at head and foot, collection label pasted on the spine and extending onto the covers, corners worn.

Foxing.

Bromme’s works, based on recent travels, constituted the principal source of information for prospective European emigrants.

He issued separate editions arranged by region or state, as here for Louisiana.

"Freud'sche Bibliothek" label pasted to the front pastedown, with manuscript number; Oscar Messerly stamp on the title page and on one further leaf.

First edition of the French translation (cf. Sabin 8048; Quérard I, 521, who gives the date 1825).

Contemporary half roan with an aubergine hue, the flat spines lightly sunned and ruled with gilt fillets and dotted tooling, some rubbing to the backs, marbled paper sides, yellow mottled edges.

A few very light, insignificant spots.

John Bristed, born in the county of Dorset in 1778, died in the United States in 1855.

After studying medicine and law, he entered the Church. "Before leaving England he began writing and seems to have held ideas considered radical at the time (...) In 1806 Bristed came to New York City and there practised law, lectured, and wrote...

First edition. 

Contemporary half black shagreen over comb-marbled paper boards, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, green paper endleaves and pastedowns, original wrappers retained (soiled), modern binding.

Heavy foxing throughout.

Rare first edition.

Our copy is presented disbound.

A close associate of Villermé, the economist and demographer Benoiston de Châteauneuf (1776-1856) advocates the adoption in France of measures widely used by Great Britain, whereby common-law convicts were transported overseas both to remove them from the country and to contribute to the settlement and development of the colonies.

In France, the system was ultimately applied only sporadically, and chiefly in Algeria.

A new edition, published anonymously, of the French translation.

Half black cloth binding with corners, spine without lettering, rubbed with small losses to the cloth at the joints, marbled paper boards, soiled original wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

This rare Strasbourg printing escaped Sabin. It is in fact an adaptation of Struggles and Triumphs, the autobiography of the remarkable Phineas Taylor Barnum (1810–1891), first published by him in 1869.

Widely regarded as the father of the modern circus, Barnum was also a consummate master of spectacle and publicity. His conquest of Europe, accompanied by “General” Tom Thumb, measuring just 63 cm in...

First edition.

Endpapers partially toned, a few scattered foxmarks.

Contemporary half brown cloth, smooth spine ruled in blind, marbled paper boards, a few snags to the extremities, Masonic ex-libris label pasted to the inner board.

The petition under discussion sought to have the Banque de France adopt measures to counter fluctuations in the discount rate.

Provenance: from the library of the Château de Villardonnel (Aude), belonging to the Mahul family, with their pictorial ex-libris label pasted to the inner board.

First edition of this pamphlet, directed in part against Mormonism (cf. Sabin 2797).

Illustrated with a folding lithographed map of the United States, inserted as a plate.

Spine cracked with small losses and tears at the joints; library shelf label pasted at the foot of the upper wrapper; small corner tears to the wrappers.

This booklet also considers the relations between Christians and the indigenous inhabitants, as well as with the African population brought to the United States through the cupidity of the citizens of the Old World. A good copy.

First edition, illustrated with a folding map by Kiepert, issued as a separate plate (see Gay 3605).

Contemporary-style half tobacco calf binding, spine with five raised bands ruled in black, sides covered with marbled paper, modern binding.

Occasional foxing.

First collective edition (cf. Cordier, Indosinica IV, 2297).

Light creasing to the foot of the upper cover; a few spots of foxing.

This volume unites in a single work the Grammar of the Annamite language, published in 1864, together with the Vocabulary, first issued in 1861.

A naval officer and Orientalist, Commander Gabriel Aubaret (1825–1894) was appointed the first French Consul in Bangkok in 1863; his true mission, however, was to negotiate with the Imperial Court at Hué for the cession to France of the provinces of Cochinchina. On 21 June 1864 Aubaret signed at Hué a new treaty on the terms desired by the court of Annam.

The three eastern provinces were...

First edition.

Green sheepskin half binding, flat spine decorated with gilt garlands, marbled paper boards, speckled edges, contemporary binding.

A restoration at the head of the spine, a tear with loss to the first endpaper, library stamps (red stamps of the École Sainte-Geneviève on the title page, Jesuit stamp of Jersey "Dom. S. Aloys. Jerseiens S.J." on an endpaper, Bibliothèque jésuite des Fontaines stamp on the half-title.

The present copy was deaccessioned; another copy from the same provenance is held under the shelfmark SJ IG 266/100 in the collections of the Bibliothèque municipale de Lyon, which now houses the collections of the Bibliothèque des...

First edition of the French translation, illustrated with an out-of-text chart presenting the numerical results of the preceding comparative survey of flour imports to the Island of Cuba" (cf. Sabin, 67081 (does not the plate), Brunet, 28642.)

Light dampstaining to the edges not affecting the text, occasional foxing, a pleasant copy.

Bradel binding in full paper-covered boards with pebble-grain paper, smooth spine, burgundy oasis morocco title-piece, red top edge and edges, modern signed binding by Boichot.

The first edition appeared in Madrid in 1845, under the title: "Informe fiscal sobre fomento de la poblacion blanca en la isla de Cuba y emancipacion...

First edition, printed in a very small run as a separate issue.

No copies recorded in the CCFr or WorldCat.

Our copy is presented in its original wrappers, preserved under the original cream paper dust wrapper.

Oxford antiquary and numismatist, William Sandys Wright Vaux (1818–1885) was also closely associated with the Oxford Movement.

On the front cover, autograph inscription from William Sandys Wright Vaux to Count Melchior de Vogüé (1829–1916), the renowned French archaeologist.

Rare first edition. Rare.

Plain spine with small tears, slight angular losses to the wrappers, some foxing, imperial printed colportage stamps at foot of several leaves.

First edition (cf. Contominas 732; Blackmer 1652; Loukia Droulia 2021-22. Not in Atabey).

Contemporary Bradel binding in full grey marbled paper-covered boards, smooth spine with manuscript title label pasted at head, corners slightly rubbed, red-speckled edges.

Some foxing. 

 "An important work by the German philhellene, who was in fact the key figure in Bavarian philhellenism after Ludwig himself. In Munich in 1816 he founded an institute for educationg young Greeks (the 'Athenaion'). According to St. Clair he was also a member of the Philiké Etaireia ; certanly he called for volunteers in 1821. In 1831 he went to Greece as an unofficial agent of the Bavarian...

First edition, forming the sixteenth volume of Voyages, relations et mémoires originaux pour servir à l'histoire de la découverte de l'Amérique, published by H. Ternaux-Compans. Cf. Sabin, 94852.

Bound in half green sheepskin, spine with four raised bands, gilt date at the foot, marbled paper boards, endpapers and pastedowns of laid paper, upper corner with a minor tear; twentieth-century binding.

Foxing, one stain on the half-title page.

This volume contains: Letters from Don Juan de Zumárraga, elected Bishop of Mexico, to the King. — Documents relating to the disputes between the first Audiencia of New Spain, presided over by Nuño de Guzmán, and the Bishop...

First edition, forming the tenth volume of Voyages, Relations et Mémoires Originaux pour servir à l'Histoire de la Découverte de l'Amérique, published by H. Ternaux-Compans (cf. Sabin, 94854).

Some foxing, front board tending to detach, minor losses to the spine and at the corners of the boards.

This volume contains the Itinerary of the Voyage of the Fleet of the Catholic King to the Island of Yucatan, undertaken in 1518 under the command of Captain General Juan de Grijalva, first published in Italian in Venice in 1522.

It is followed by 19 other previously unpublished pieces relating to the history of Mexico, including: A Brief Account of New...

First edition, illustrated at the end of the second volume with a folding map outside the text (cf. Gay 3608. Numa Broc 307).

Contemporary cherry-red half calf bindings, spines with four false raised bands ruled in gilt and black, red paper-covered boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, speckled edges.

Scattered foxing, restorations to the joints and spines, a light dampstain to the lower margins affecting approximately the final two-thirds of the first volume.

A follower of Saint-Simon, Maurice Tamisier (1810-1875) travelled to Egypt in the aftermath of the 1830 Revolution with a small group led by Père Enfantin, who, following his imprisonment, hoped to unite in...

Rare first edition (cf. Tulard 275 and 1453).

Contemporary half tan goatskin binding, spine with four false raised bands decorated with gilt chains and a central fleur, gilt initials at foot, marbled paper boards, corners rubbed and canvas-tipped, late 19th-century binding.

Scattered foxing.

The only edition, extremely scarce as issued in a small print run and not offered commercially, like most of the works of the Dutch historian Sirtema van Grotestins (1791–1874), who was based in France.

The two figures whose memoirs he published were Dutchmen of contrasting political destinies: while the former refused to serve Louis Bonaparte, the latter went so far as to join...

Rare first edition constituting a denunciation of bullfighting by René-Marie-Alexandre de Sémallé (1822-1894), geographer chiefly known for his contributions to the "Bulletin de la Société de géographie" between 1868 and 1883.

Contemporary aubergine half sheep, smooth spine ruled in gilt with double fillets, a few rubs to the spine, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers and pastedowns, trace of a removed bookplate to one pastedown, wrappers preserved, contemporary binding.

A few light foxing spots.

Signed autograph inscription by René de Sémallé at the head of the upper wrapper.

Rare first edition. 

Some occasional foxing.

Contemporary-style bradel binding in full blue marbled paper-covered boards, smooth spine, printed wrappers preserved, modern binding.

The author (not to be confused with the diplomat André Grasset de Saint-Sauveur, who died in 1830) was in 1836 the guest of Count Mikhaïl Semionovitch Vorontsov (1782-1856), Governor-General of New Russia and namestnik of Bessarabia since 1823.

Under his administration, Crimea and Odessa in particular experienced rapid development, and he was the first to introduce steamships on the Black Sea in 1828. This brief account provides an interesting testimony to the condition of these southern...

First edition (cf. Sabin 74178.)

Contemporary red half shagreen, spine with five raised bands ruled in gilt and decorated with gilt floral motifs, gilt initials and date at the foot of the spine, boards framed with blind fillets, minor rubbing to the spine, staining to the boards, marbled endpapers, speckled edges.

A few light foxing spots.

Provenance: from the library of A. Montluc, Consul General of Mexico in Paris, with his gilt initials at the foot of the spine.

Ink stamp of the Mexican Consulate General on the half-title page.

First edition.

Only three copies recorded in the CCFr.

Spine restored with some losses remaining, sun-faded boards, scattered foxing.

The sole edition: despite his surname, Dr Roberts appears to have been French, and it was at the request of the French Minister of Public Instruction that he undertook this journey through Central Asia, of which India formed but one stage.

Second edition, partly original as enlarged, illustrated with a lithographed frontispiece and two lithographed plates printed hors-texte.

Bradel binding in full paper boards covered with red shell-patterned paper, smooth spine, red shagreen title label, restored wrappers preserved and mounted on guards, modern binding.

This memoir, published by order of the Royal Academic Society of Savoy, of which the Comte de Boigne was president, notably recounts his travels in India.

Benoît Leborgne, Comte de Boigne, served in India and received from Prince Sindiah the supreme command of his troops, to whom he imparted European discipline and manoeuvres.

With them he won...

First edition of the French translation (see Palau 246 379–80).

Spine restored, small losses at the corners of the boards.

An Italian-born naturalist and explorer, Antonio Raimondi (1826–1890) landed in Peru in 1850 and thereafter devoted himself to the study of his adopted country: through numerous expeditions, he gathered extensive data on the carbon strata of the Peruvian coastline, analysed and quantified the guano of the Chincha Islands and the potassium nitrate of Tarapacá, travelled through the gold-bearing provinces of Carabaya and Sandia, navigated the Río Marañón, the Ucayali and the Amazon — the principal eastern rivers — and drew plans of the cities of Cajamarca...

First edition.

Sabin 62880. Not in Leclerc.

Contemporary half red shagreen, spine rubbed and decorated with five raised bands, gilt initials at the foot, marbled paper-covered boards, combed paper endpapers and pastedowns.

First edition (cf. Cordier, Sinica, 1557.)

Contemporary half black shagreen, smooth spine decorated with triple gilt fillets and gilt floral ornaments, slight rubbing to the spine ends, marbled paper boards, marbled endpapers, bumped corners, speckled edges.

The sole edition of this survey, which in fact constitutes the French adaptation, by a librarian of Sainte-Geneviève, of three highly detailed articles written by the English diplomat Thomas Francis Wade (1818-1895), then attached to the secretariat of Lord Elgin. 

Their contents were brought together in The Chinese Army : Containing Notices of Its Bannermen, Hánkiun, and Luhying Divisions: With Details...